July 2010
STEM EQUITY PIPELINE NEWS
Two States Added to Project
The NAPE Education Foundation announces the addition of Georgia and Texas to the
states participating in the STEM Equity Pipeline Project. Georgia, led by the Technical
College System of Georgia and Texas, led by Amarillo College, will be joining California,
Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma and Wisconsin
who participated in the first three years of the STEM Equity Pipeline project.
NEWS FROM WASHINGTON
NAPE Leads Collaboration with NGCP and MDWIT to Develop Educate to Innovate Recommendations
for Girls in STEM
President Obama launched the "Educate to Innovate" campaign last November to improve
the participation and performance of America's students in science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM). July 19, 2010, representatives from national
organizations that are focused on increasing participation and performance of women
and girls in STEM fields held a meeting in Washington, DC to develop recommendations
to help improve "Educate to Innovate."
For more information go to
www.stemcollaboration.org
Read White House blog (http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/28/more-faces-women-and-girls-stem)
Science Reauthorization Bill Clears Senate Panel
On July 22, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee approved
S. 3605, the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act. Read More from Women's Policy, Inc.
House Approves SECTORS Act
(Josh Cable, Industry Week)
On July 19, the U.S. House of Representatives on July 19 approved bipartisan legislation
that aims to help industries meet their skilled workforce needs by connecting public-
and private-sector stakeholders in various industry clusters. The SECTORS Act, H.R.
1855, would set up a grant program through the Department of Labor to provide funding
for partnerships between businesses, unions, educators and the public workforce
system to coordinate training activities in "high-demand and emerging industries."
Read More
Udall Introduces STEM-related Bill
On July 12, 2010, Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) introduced legislation (S. 3564), which
encourages women to enter STEM-related fields by offering provisions to enhance
gender equity in the academic STEM environment and extended research grant opportunities
to provide interim technical support for researchers during times of caregiving.
Read
More
ARTICLES
UMBC President Discusses Science for Women and Minorities
Mathematician-turned-university-president Freeman A. Hrabowski III is known for
encouraging minority students to pursue science and engineering careers. When the
head of University of Maryland Baltimore County started as vice provost in 1987,
black and Hispanic students were struggling in science at the school, he says. He
helped launch the Meyerhoff Scholars Program for young black males in science and
engineering fields in 1988; since then, it has expanded to include people of both
sexes and all races. UMBC, a predominantly white university, is now a national leader
in the number of minority graduates who go on to earn doctorates in medicine, the
sciences and engineering.
Read More
Families Can't Afford the Gender Wage Gap
(H. Boushey et al., Center for American Progress)
The gender pay gap has taken on added importance as men have been more likely than
women to lose jobs during the Great Recession. This loss of a man's paycheck means
that millions of families now rely on a woman's job to make ends meet. Newly analyzed
state-by-state data demonstrate that mothers in every state and the District of
Columbia are financially supporting their families-and many are their family's primary
breadwinner. Yet they continue to face a career wage gap that sets them back hundreds
of thousands of dollars throughout their lives.
Read More
Why Do Girls Steer Clear of STEM?
(Casey Selix, MinnPost.com )
As Normandale Community College in Bloomington prepares to host a July 26-29 Technology
Engineers Camp for Her (TECH) aimed at sixth- and seventh-grade girls, a new study
may help explain why some girls steer clear of STEM fields. A Miami University team
of researchers found that girls may avoid STEM careers because they are "perceived
as less likely than careers in other fields to fulfill communal goals (e.g., working
with or helping other people)," according to the abstract in Psychological Science,
the journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
Learn More
U. Va. Professor Tries to Measure Student Achievement in Science and Technology
Fields
(Staff Report, NewsLeader.com)
What does it mean to be an expert in science, technology, engineering and math -
the so-called "STEM" fields, which change so quickly that before you've had a chance
to boot up the latest electronic gadget, a newer version already exists? The work
of David Feldon, an assistant professor at the University of Virginia's Curry School
of Education, is focused on answering this question.
Learn More
Can Building Robots Reboot Education?
(Alexis Madrigal, The Atlantic)
Some technology experts, such as MAKE Magazine founder Dale Dougherty and Pixar's
Tony DeRose, are promoting hands-on learning through the practice of making things
as a method for revitalizing education, particularly in the STEM fields. DeRose
has created a program to involve children in "technologically sophisticated projects,"
according to this article, and both DeRose and Dougherty are developing the principles
needed to create a curriculum based on the maker ethic.
Learn More
Rowan University Offers Engineering Approach to High School Lesson Plans
(Jessica Driscoll, Gloucester County Times)
Teachers and high school seniors from around the state gathered at Rowan Hall this
week to work with engineering faculty on design projects that can be integrated
into classroom lessons. Originally, the program was only open to teachers. Since
last year, high school seniors considering a future in engineering or technology
education have been welcomed as well. For example, Rowan associate professor of
mechanical engineering, showed teachers in the sports workshop how they could connect
science and engineering with a more-commonly recognized and understood topic.
Learn More
NAPE 2011 PDI
The 2001 NAPE Professional Development Institute will be held on Monday, April 11-14,
at the Doubletree Crystal City, VA.
RESOURCES
The Engineer's
Pledge Has Launched!
The Engineer's Pledge is a call to action for members of the engineering community.
The goal is to change how you talk about engineering in order to shine a more positive
light on the industry.
Women in Green Job Banners from IWITTS
Beyond Google: Top
10 Search Engines for Educators
The Women in Aerospace Foundation
was established to increase public awareness of the importance and benefits of innovation
in the aerospace field, to increase public appreciation of the sciences, and to
inspire female students to seek careers in the areas of technology and aerospace.
Month at the Museum:
The Chicago Museum of Science and industry will give one "adventurous, outgoing
person with a strong interest in learning about science" a chance to be a living
exhibit in the museum for a month.
SAVE THE DATE
Techbridge Summer Institute to provide curriculum and strategies
for engaging girls in STEM, Oakland, CA, August 2-4, 2010.
Women Working
in Alternate Energy Teleconference: August 3, 2010, 1:00 pm EDT
2010 National
Conference for Science and Technology Out-of-School Time Universal City,
CA, September 22-24, 2010
USA Science &
Engineering Festival: October 10-24, 2010, Washington, DC
National Girls Collaborative
Conference: October 21-22, 2010, Washington, DC
AAUW National Convention:
Breaking through Barriers--Advocating for Change, June 16-19, 2011, Washington,
DC
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